Distilling apparatus



W. A. HUSHWORTH.

D'ISTILLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 1uNE28. 1919.

1,359.276. Patented Ndv. 16, 1920.

` UNITED STA WILLIAM A. RUSHWORTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DISTILLING APPARATUS.

a To aiZZ whom/t may. concern:

Be it known that I,- WILLIAM A. RUSH- WORTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DistillingY Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

a My invention relates to a distilling apparatus, its general objects being to provide a simple y.but eilicient, portable and easily cleaned apparatus of this class suitable for use in households, small shops and the like. In many sections of the country, the available water is so highly alkaline as to be undesirable for drinking purposes unless first purified by distillation, and in Aother sections the water supply is occasionally contaminated so as to make a distilling of the vsame equally desirable. Consequently, there is a wide spread need for a simple and effective Lratus. Illustrative of my invention,

distilling apparatus suitable for household use. Likewise, the water available in many sections is unsuited by 'reasonof some of its.

ingredients for other purposes, as for instance for use as a constituent of the solu-l tion in storage batteries, so that a similar need exists ina great many battery charging stations. y

For such purposes, the ordinary laboratory types of stills are objectionable, both on account of their size and cost and on account of the diiiiculty of cleaning both the worms and the condensing chambers which .house the worms. Myinvention aims to overcome these and other objections to the stills heretofore in use and to provide a distilling apparatus of simple construction which will be highl efficient .in l operation, Awhich. can rea stove, and in which the constituent parts can readily be separated fromeach other to facilitate a thorough cleaning of the a paam describing one embodiment of the same in the following specification and am picturng this 'embodiment in the accompanying 'drawings, from which further and more detailed obJects of my invention will be apparent. In the drawings, v

y be used-on an ordinary gas or coal A.14: normally closed l ustrated apparatus *for 4Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 16, 1920, Application med .rune 2s, 1919. serial No.' ao7,4o1.

Figure l is a central and vertical section through a distilling apparatus embodyingsubstantially frusto-conical shape, thereby affording a bottom considerably larger in diameter than the mouth of the vessel. The tapering sides of .this boiler are desirably drawn innear the top of the vessel to aford an annular shoulder 2 adapted to engage the bottom 3 of a drip pan which forms the second or intermediary portion of the` apparatus. This intermediary portion consists of an annular bottom 3 bordered on its exterior by a vertical rim 4, and on its interior by a tapering neck 5 considerably tallerthan the rim 3 and substantially forming an eX- tension for the sides-of the vessel 1, so that the neck 5 coperates with the upper end of the casing of the boiler'to aford a vapor oute let for the boiler.

Supported by the rim 3 of the said intermediary portion, desirably by having shoulders formed near the lower ends of its sides as shown in Fig. l, is a condenser having a v casing 6 which is desirably flared to a larger diameter at its top. This condenser casing has soldered to it, or otherwise secured'to it, a bottom comprising a relatively narrow outer portion 7 and a central portion 8 which is arched upward-substantially in the form of a dome. The uppensection also desirably has near its top a pair of oppositely disposed nipples 9and l0 adapted to be conneeted respectively with a water supply pipe -11 and an overflowpipe 12. The intermediate section desirably has at its bottom a drip outlet spout 13, and the base section de- `r sirablyhas'near its upper end a lateral inlet a suitable cap.'

In operating the water purifying, water is illedjntO the base lso portion 1 and this is set over av suitable burner with the other two portions super-l posed on it as shown in Fig. 1. Then the upper vessel is filled with cold water, and if running water is available, the hose 11 is connected with the source of the same to maintain a continuous flow of cold water through this kupper vessel. As soon as the water in the boiler 1 begins to boil, the resulting steam passes up through the bore of the neck 5 and impinges against the bottom 8, which bottom is kept cool by the cold water above it and therefore condenses the Steam into drops which run down the inside of the dome and then drop upon the annular bottom 3 of the intermediate part. Likewise, if some of the condensed water drops oit, the dome 8 before running down the sides of the latter, this will be caught by the sloping outer wall of the tapering tube 5, so that the condensed distillate in any case is caught by the intermediate chamber and runs out through the spout 13.

In practice, I desirably make the upper opening or outlet oi' the tapering tube 3 relatively small in diameter, so that the chances of having any 'of the condensate drop vertically back through the bore of this tube will be practically negligible. I also desirably provide the dome 8 with deep liutings, thereby increasing the surface of this dome so as to utilize a larger proportion of the cooling water in the upper vessel for cooling the dome and condensing Vthe steam. Both the dome 8 of the apparatus and the bottom ofthe boi-ler are desirably made of a metal having a high thermal conductivity,

while the remainder of the parts may be of relatively cheaper metals chosen for the ease of preventing their rusting. By spreading the intermediate part to a diameter considerably greater than the upper -end'of the I lower vessel, IA readily provide an upper vessel of ample size for containing a considerable volume of the cooling water and am, likewise able to employ a dome 8 of relatively large diameter in proportion to that of the surface of the liquid in the boiler. Then, by forming deep iutes in this dome I can increase the surface of the same to an amount greatly exceeding the area of the liquid in the lower vessel, and desirably to approximately four times this area, there-.

by securing the surface area required for instantly condensing the steam as rapidly as it can be vaporized from the lower or boiler portion of iny appliance.

With the apparatus arranged and operated as described, I have found that steam will issue through the spout 13 only for 'a few seconds after the water begins to boil and that after these initial few seconds the distilled veter will drip continuously fromA required distillation has more, by removing the cap from the inlet 14 when a considerable portion of the water has been boiled away, I can readily'replenish the supply in the lower vessel, so as to maintain the apparatus in continuous operation as long as desired. Then, when the been completed, the parts can readilyl be lifted offy each other as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, to permit a drying and cleaning of the same, in doing which the annular portion 7 afords ready access to the bottom of the upper vessel.

However, while I have illustrated and described'my invention in a certain desirable embodiment, I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction and arrangement as here disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modied in many ways with- 4out departing' from the spirit of the ap 2.- A distilling apparatus as per claim 1,

in which the spout for the boiler comprises a tube integral with the boiler and an extension tube integral with the drip pan.

3. A distilling apparatus comprising a boiler having upwardly converging sides and having a vertical tubular outlet oiset from the upper ends of the said sides by a relatively narrow annular shoulder; a drip member comprising an annular bottom seated on the said shoulder and projecting laterally therebeyond, and a vertical spout extendinof -upward from the inner edge of the said annular bottom; and a condensing vessel seated on the said rim and having a concaved bottom housing the upper portion of the said spout.

4. A distilling apparatus comprising as three manually separable and snugly intertting parts a boiler having an upwardly projecting vapor outlet, an annular drip pan carried by the boiler and surrounding the said. outlet and having a vertical rim of less height than the said outlet, and a .y

cold water compartment supported by the rim ofthe drippan and having its bottom arched over the top of the said outlet. Signed at Chica o, June 21st. 1919.

' WILLI A. RUSHWORTH. 

